Title: Relief 2/?
Author: Yami no Kaiba
Series: Yugioh
Rating: Pg-13
Pairing: ???/Seto + possibly more
Disclaimer: If I could own one thing from the whole series, I’d own Seto. Unfortunately, unless the creator of Yugioh was willing to sell me Seto Kaiba’s character ownership for two bucks, I’d never get him. I do, however, believe I own what my twisted mind puts him through. I think.
Summary: Kicked out of his own body, Seto Kaiba has to deal with the largest betrayal of his fragile heart. Will anyone offer the poor brunette a reason to live? An alternate ending to the Noa Arc.
Warning: Spoiler / yaoi / psychological torture / introspection / angst (it's Seto for crying out loud, when is there not angst?!)

AN: I royally screwed up Seto's past to make this more dramatic. In reality his mom dies giving birth to Mokuba and his father dies in an accident five years later.

*---*---*---*---*

Marik glared at the fading light from the Sennen Rod. "What did this old piece of faulty junk do now?"

*---*---*---*---*

Seth looked down at the pale flickering soul of his unconscious reincarnation, sighing heavily in relief tinged with worry. It had been close, to close for comfort, the last minute rescue of the brunette’s soul. And from the look of it, it was still iffy if the boy would live or die, even here in the soul room of the Sennen Rod where magic strengthened the power of one’s soul.

A small whimper came from Seth's feet, indicating that Seto was waking. Kneeling, Seth brought a hand up to the boy's face, caressing the soft skin of Seto's cheek gently. "Shh, my cute little descendant. Shhh..."

Seto jerked violently out of Seth's hold, eyes snapping open with barely veiled fear before shock settled on his features. Seto thought he had seen everything, but seeing a virtual twin in front of him dressed in dark purple robes and pants, with gold embellishments, and the stupidest hat he had ever seen had to take the cake. Especially the hat. Gods, even the stylized beautiful gold dragon around the rim didn't take away from the inherent stupidity and ugliness of that hat.

Catching the direction of the boy's gaze at the slight look of disgust, Seth chuckled. "I know, the headdress doesn't really suit us, but it can't be helped. Certain concessions must be made when displaying one's status and rank."

As Seth continued to stare fondly and settle back to provide room, he guided Seto by the arms to prop himself into a sitting position. Sweat appeared on the teen's skin, even as his image seemed to steady itself into something more tangible. "Who are you and where am I?"

An ironic grin spread across Seth's face. Leave it to his reincarnation to get straight to the point. "I'm Seth, the shadow of your past life in Egypt. As to where we are, we're in my soul room, inside the Sennen Rod."

Seto looked slightly confused. "Wh-" Seth watched his descendant's eyes, noticing as they widened with sudden realization and then squeezed shut fast, a low moan of pain coming from the back of Seto's throat. "Mokuba..." Seto whispered, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around his legs, head bowed in an unconscious effort to comfort himself.

Concerned, Seth carefully shifted to a sitting position and pulled Seto towards him. At first Seto resisted, but finally caved and lunged into Seth's embrace, clutching Seth's clothes in a death grip, sobbing bitterly into the purple folds of soft material. Whispering words of comfort, Seth cradled the distressed teen gently, brushing his hand in a parental gesture of soothing through Seto's silky brown tresses.

"I don't want to live," broke a soft voice what seemed hours later, after the broken teen had stopped crying incessantly. Shocked and troubled, Seth looked down at the bowed head of his descendant. Moving one hand, Seth firmly gripped Seto's chin and tilted the boy's head up, to capture those blue eyes. For a few moments, Seth fell into the dark, empty obis those usually soulful ice blue eyes had become. Mentally shaking himself out of their pull, Seth's own ice blue eyes narrowed.

"You must. The duty requiring us being here in this time has not been fulfilled."

A bark of hysterical laughter came from the teen in his arms, further disconcerting Seth. "That's all I'm for though, isn't it? A tool, an object to be used, to be shown around and then thrown away. That's all I'm good for, isn't it?!"

Seth shook the hysterical teen, trying to get his attention. "And what in the name of all the gods gave you that idea?!"

"Papa and Mama, all they did was cart me around, showing me off to the parents of other children and bragging about how smart I was. They didn't care about me at all!"

"Of course they cared about you! They're your parents, they loved you!"

"Then how could they leave us, leave me?! How could they go and kill themselves by jumping off that cliff if they seriously cared about me?!"

Seth was silent. What could he say to that? He knew from his weak connection with Seto the reason the two had jumped. The family had been in a financial crisis at the time, as in a seeming coincidence both parents had been laid off from their jobs with in a span of a week. With the Japanese unspoken rule of loyalty to the company, no one else would take their services for fear of them being spies from their previous employers. The bank account had eventually dried up and their was nothing left. Yet in Seth's mind that was still no reason to leave their offspring alone in the world.

"Certainly, certainly their was some one," Seth whispered quietly.

Seto shook his head violently, tears coming to his eyes once again. "Gozaburo, my adoptive father, all he cared about was that I be strong and cold, the best businessman. I really don't think cutting, whipping, and beating a person is what one would call a show of caring."

Seth winced at that. It was true, he couldn't say that.

Seto buried his head into Seth's shoulder. "And stealing Mokuba's soul, as well as mine... Gods, I don't even understand or know why Pegasus did that!"

Seth sighed deeply, resting a hand on the back of Seto's head, running his fingers through his soft hair, looking off into the distance in guilt. He knew why the older man had done it. Seto's body was a great conductor for arcane energies being Seth's descendant as well as his reincarnation, and with the item the older man could have had power greater then he could even dream of, power surpassing that of even the Sennen Items. If the older man had managed to find the Sennen Rod and use it on Seto, the results could have been devastating, especially in this day and age, maybe even impossible to reverse...

With Noa in Seto's body though, Seth wasn't to concerned. The dead boy's soul had none of the knowledge, nor was it harmonized enough to the body to use even the remotest amount of arcane energy.

"And Mokuba..." the sobbed, scratchy voice of the boy in Seth's arms caught Seth's attention. "Gods, Mokuba just needed someone to protect him, and when I couldn't c-cut it, h-he," Seto's body shuddered, clenching tighter to Seth's form and trembling erratically as he continued to dry sob, all his tears spent.

"Shhh... It'll be fine, you'll see. It'll all turn out right in the end, my cute little descendant." Petting the boy, Seth dropped a small kiss of comfort onto the boy's bowed head.

--To be Continued.